The Diplomat Season 2: Cast, Release Date, and Everything You Need to Know

Nothing can stop Keri Russell from being nominated for an Emmy for her performance in a political thriller. Russell, who landed three Lead Actress nominations — but tragically never won — for her work in The Americans, was nominated in the same category in 2023 thanks to The Diplomat. Russell stars in the Netflix drama series as Kate Wyler, a U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom who must juggle international crises and her marriage to Hal (played by Rufus Sewell), who was once an ambassador himself.

Throughout the eight episodes of the first season of The Diplomat, the drama builds and leaves the audience on a cliffhanger. Fans who watched the series and were left with more questions than answers may be wondering: Will there be a second season of The Diplomat?

The good news: Yes, there will be a Diplomat Season 2. Below, we will answer all the questions we can about the sophomore season: when it will premiere, who will appear, what to expect from Season 2, and more.

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The Diplomat Season 2 release date

Want to dress up as Kate Wyler for Halloween? Netflix has announced that The Diplomat Season 2 will premiere on Thursday, Oct. 31.

News of the Season 2 premiere date was accompanied by two first look photos. One, above, shows Kate in the same red dress she wore in the Season 1 finale. The other, in the post on Twitter (X) below, shows a determined Kate presumably plotting her next move. After all, as the tweet says, "The call is coming from inside the house."

Netflix also released a new interview with series creator Debora Cahn, who teased what to expect in the second season. Read on for details.

What will The Diplomat Season 2 be about?

In an interview with Netflix's Tudum in August, creator Debora Cahn previewed the challenges facing Kate Wyler in Season 2. For starters, she'll have to prove her suspicions about British Prime Minister Nicol Trowbridge (Rory Kinnear). In the first season finale, Kate realized that the prime minister himself was responsible for an attack on a British aircraft carrier off the coast of Iran, the event that had brought her to the U.K. to begin with. 

Kate's investigation won't be easy. "The U.S. and the U.K. don't spy on each other," Cahn said to Tudum. "In fact, they share all their intelligence. So how do you investigate the PM? Who do you trust?"

At the same time, she'll have to deal with the aftermath of the explosion that ended Season 1. Moments before the first season wrapped, viewers found out that Trowbridge had ordered a second attack — which left the lives of Sewell's Hal, embassy deputy chief Stuart Hayford (Ato Essandoh), office clerk Ronnie (Jess Chanliau), and MP Merritt Grove hanging in the balance.

Cahn teased that in Season 2, "everything we thought we knew about the Wylers changes, as does everything they think they know about each other." 

TVLine reports that The Diplomat Season 2 "will pick up right away" after the events of the Season 1 finale.

Season 2 will also bring the vice president into the fray. Allison Janney is joining the show as Vice President Grace Penn, and it sounds like viewers can expect some friction between the vice president and Kate. "The VP thinks Kate's after her job," Cahn told Tudum. "She's not entirely wrong. Kate thinks she understands the VP. She is mistaken." 

David Gyasi, who plays Austin Dennison, foreign secretary of the U.K., previously told Tudum that he hoped Season 2 would expand upon the relationship between Austin and Kate. "I'm just excited to see what that relationship [becomes]," Gyasi said. "They're so opposite to one another, and yet, when you scratch the surface, [you see] what drives them [and they're] probably more connected to one another than a lot of other characters."

The Diplomat Season 2 cast

Allison Janney is set for a key guest starring role in Season 2 of The Diplomat. Variety reported in January that the former West Wing star and general legend of the screen will be playing the vice president of the United States.

Given the explosive cliffhanger ending of Season 1, we're not entirely sure who will return except for some of the main players, like Keri Russell's Kate and David Gyasi's Austin, who weren't near the second attack. 

The Diplomat main cast

• Keri Russell as Kate Wyler
• Rufus Sewell as Hal Wyler
• David Gyasi as Austin Dennison
• Ali Ahn as Eidra Park
• Rory Kinnear as Prime Minister Nicol Trowbridge
• Ato Essandoh as Stuart Hayford
• Allison Janney as Vice President Grace Penn

The Diplomat Season 1 review

We loved Season 1 of The Diplomat. Reviewer Kyle Fowle adored Russell's performance and the tight plotting, even if the final twist wasn't his cup of tea. Read Kyle's review here, in which he also comments on the cliffhanger ending.

Where to watch The Diplomat

Season 1 of The Diplomat is available to stream on Netflix.